And everything began with a poring
by Fleur de la Lune
Summary: The first ever WITCH/Ragnarok Online crossover! What happens after Caleb comes across a cute little poring in Meridian? This grand-project is being written and illustrated in co-operation with my pal Infanta. Please R
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, dear readers! ****So, I'm here with a new story. I decided to post this one first, instead of "The royal peasant girl". I'm gonna write this in co-operation with my pal Infanta: I'm doing the whole writing part and she's my idea generator and illustrator. It's a crossover with Ragnarok Online game, but don't worry if you don't know anything about it, you'll anyway understand everything. And if you have any questions about RO, you're free to ask me either Infanta, who's an experienced gamer.**

**Hmmm, I'm not sure after which season of WITCH this takes place, but this doesn't really matter. The girls are 16 and 17, Caleb is 18.**

**I don't own anything except those characters I made up myself.**

**And one more thing before reading: **_**kawaii **_**means "cute" in Japanese – this word will be used here a lot. **

**Well, enjoy!**

Chapter 1

So you ask how it all started?

Everything began on a perfectly ordinary day, perfectly ordinary Friday afternoon, to be more correct. Truly, there was nothing really special except that the weather in Meridian was surprisingly wonderful. Caleb was strolling around one of Meridian green vast forests – he had just finished his training (although he was considered one of the best young warriors in the kingdom, he never failed to devote some time to practicing and improving his martial skills) and now had time to rest. Blunk was dragging behind him as usual – lately he had been constantly hanging out with his friend and accompanied him wherever he went – this might sometimes be a bit irritating, but at the same time very flattering.

Caleb was in one of those rare poetic moods when there are no concerns and everything seems nice and lovely; this occurred to him more often after he had started dating Cornelia and the day was generally disposing to such a state; he was enjoying the weather and thinking where to go next. Blunk wasn't so much touched by the nature's beauty, but he was having a walk with his best friend, the day before he discovered a splendid marshy pool and on top of that he had eaten some delicious rotten mushrooms for breakfast and all these facts were enough to conclude that life was a great thing.

As the two of them were passing by they noticed some beautiful blue flowers growing on a tiny hill; Caleb picked one up with a smile and carefully put it in the buttonhole of his jacket (that would be a small present for his Cornelia) and continued his way. The little green monster also approached the flowers and smelled them. He definitely found them very interesting and in an instant grabbed the whole bunch with his mouth, chewed and swallowed with a wide grin. «Nice tasty flowers! » he stated with satisfaction and went to catch up with his companion.

«So, where shall I go? » Caleb thought aloud as he stretched his arms «Perhaps it's worth going to the river and have a swim. What do you say, Blunk? » The guy turned around to face his monster friend sitting in a big muddy puddle (must have remained since the last time it rained), all dirty like a pig, clapping his hands in delight. Blunk was obviously enjoying himself and didn't feel like bathing.

«Oh, I knew that, it was a silly thing to ask» the rebel leader shrugged his shoulders. «Anyway, I'm gone then» and he headed away from the creature.

Blunk was a bit upset that Caleb left him, but nothing could be compared with such bliss, so life was still a great thing. He poured himself with mud once again and sighed – happiness was such a simple thing! Suddenly some pleasant smell reached Blunk's nostrils. He stood up and went to the direction of the smell to check out what it was. He made his way through the thick bushes which obstructed his way and found himself on an open green clearing. Right in the centre of that clearing was lying a large red juicy apple. The little monster licked his lips in sweet anticipation. «Blunky love apples! » he exclaimed and started to approach the fruit slowly to prolong the pleasure. But when he was just about to pick the apple up, unexpected happened… This outrageous event shocked poor Blunk so much that he would remember it for his entire life.

In the very second when Blunk was ready to take the fruit, _something_ or rather _someone _strange dashed out of the blue, like a pink light flash rushed to the apple with incredible speed and at one sitting swallowed the whole of it without chewing with its big mouth right in front of Blunk! The poor green creature was once and for all killed with that action…

The next moment a heart-rending scream ran through the entire forest.

Caleb, who hadn't manage to go far away yet, heard the yell and realizing his little companion was in trouble, hurried to rescue to the direction the yell was coming from. Of course, Blunk was sometimes very annoying, always dirty and bad-smelling and had a non-aristocratic habit to eat mud and rubbish, but despite all of this he was his friend and Caleb couldn't let anybody offend him.

He quickly made his way through trees and bushes and ran onto the clearing, with sword in his hands, ready to fight. But when he saw what was _actually _going on, an expression of genuine surprise appeared on his face. The rebel leader had imagined at least a dozen of giant warriors or a whole army of enemies armed to the teeth torturing Blunk or some other disaster threatening his life, but the scene that appeared in front of his eyes completely differed from those images.

In the middle of the clearing was standing the very horrified Blunk, stiff with shock, terror, indignation and a mix of other feelings. He had such an expression as if he had just been given the insult or humiliation of his life – he still couldn't put up with this dreadful insolence and injustice.

And not far from poor Blunk was another strange, unfamiliar creature. Caleb had never seen anything like this in Meridian, it was clear that the insolent creature was a newcomer to the kingdom. It looked like a rather small pink jelly ball slightly bouncing on the ground. It actually _was_ a pink jelly ball. Furthermore, this jelly ball was alive and had a pair of adorable black "puppy" eyes and a pretty little mouth in shape of an upturned 3. It also was an extremely cute little thing which every girl would definitely love to have as a pet, and even Caleb was touched by him. (**Yes, you got it; it was the Poring in person – an adorable little 1 level RO monster)))**

The sight of such an image confused Caleb and he continued standing where he was with his sword still in readiness and with a bewildered face, staring at the creature. The creature was staring back with interest.

«PORING! » the mysterious jelly guy suddenly yelled, jumped up in Caleb's direction and knocked him down. The rebel leader hadn't expected such a sudden attack and didn't manage to resist and fell on his back, poring on top of him. Blunk gasped with horror and started mourning over his defeated friend.

Caleb awaited the monster to go on fighting, but nothing happened. The poring was peacefully bouncing on his chest without any intention of doing harm to him. He was smiling and seemed to want to make friends with Caleb. The rebel leader knew a lot about fighting and enemies' tricks, he was aware that the creature's cuteness could simply be a red herring to distract his attention, but the little jelly ball looked so innocent, friendly and harmless, they Caleb eventually decided to trust him.

He sat up on the ground and took the poring in his hands. «Po-ring! » the creature smiled to him in the most adorable way. Blunk stopped weeping and cried cheerfully when he saw his companion was still alive and unharmed by that terrible beast.

«I have never seen such creatures, there's no doubt it's not from Meridian. I wonder how it got here…» Caleb said to himself while observing the poring. «Hey, where are you from, little one? Are you lost? » he asked the poring with a friendly smile.

The pink jelly bubble nodded sadly. He must have had a hard childhood.

«At any rate, you can't stay here, it might be unsafe for everyone» Caleb decided. «I know, I'll take you to the girls and Mrs. Lin, they will surely work out what to do! »

«Yay! » the creature squealed merrily – he liked the idea.

Blunk was doing his best to show the most zealous protest, but was left without attention. That was so unfair, how could Caleb trust that dubious jelly guy, that insolent, shameless creature who had eaten _Blunk's_ apple (and Blunk didn't like when his property was taken away from him, especially in such a vile manner)?! And that was not all, now Caleb was going to take that foul thing to the guardians! Was his friend now on the side of that deceiver, who had captured his trust so easily? From that very moment the poring became the green monster's arch-enemy and Blunk knew it was only the beginning of the troubles for him…

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

The basement of the "Silver Dragon". Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin were all sitting on the floor playing with the poring in childish delight. Despite Blunk's protest Caleb brought him to Earth and the girls immediately took to the little cutie. They were petting and fondling the creature, admiring his eternal cuteness.

Next to them Caleb and Cornelia with her blue flower were sitting on Caleb's bed together. They were watching their friends' childish behaviour, but didn't take part in it. For Caleb it was clear – he was a man and men can't take part in girly stuff. Cornelia, however, really wanted to join her girlfriends, but she couldn't take such a liberty since she was the oldest of the guardians and she didn't want drop her authority in the eyes of her boyfriend.

Blunk was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room with his back to the girls. He was on a strike. After Caleb had introduced his find to the guardians, things just became worse for the poor green monster. Now the five of them were also on the side of his rival: they were playing with him, making fuss of him, and the unfortunate Blunk was left without attention. And he so much liked attention! He had always been the centre of it until that mean jelly ball captured his position completely. He definitely had an evil plan against poor Blunk, that poring! But Blunk also wasn't in the mood to give up. He decided to protest, to oppose the _kawaiiness _of his pink-colored foe and to punish the girls and Caleb – if they could get along without him, he would show he could perfectly live without _them _and not lose his pride! Blunk had a big wooden tub of old apple stumps, which Mrs. Lin had left specially for him, and he was eating them in the most showing-off way in order to intensify the situation and show everyone he hadn't forgotten his recent offence with the big tasty apple.

«Once again thanks for the flower, Caleb, it's beautiful» Cornelia smiled at her boyfriend «But tell me, where did that little fellow come from? » she pointed at the poring «He's definitely not from Earth»

«Have no idea» the rebel leader shrugged «The only thing I know is that he's not from Meridian either, so I decided to take him here supposing Mrs. Lin or five of you knew something about the creature. But apparently I shouldn't have done that – now the girls are gonna lisp him to death! »

«Awwwwwwwww, he's so _kawaii!_ » Hay Lin clapped her hands with nearly inhuman delight «I love him! »

«Yeah, thanks for bringing him here, Caleb; he's the most darling little thing I've ever seen! » Irma exclaimed while petting the creature.

«Look, he likes when I tickle him! How adorable! » Will admired. She tickled the poring's chin and he purred with satisfaction in response.

«Such a cutie, it's a pity he can't talk» the Fire guardian pointed out. The little monster actually could say one word "Poring", but he kept silence during his short stay on Earth – nobody knows the reason why.

«I know, I know! » the Air guardian cried joyfully. Her facial expression was stating that she had a wonderful, even genius idea. «Let's keep him since he doesn't have an owner! He'll be our pet! »

«Yes! Great idea! » the others cheered in agreement and then all four of them stared at Cornelia and Caleb with puppy eyes waiting for their confirmation.

«Hay Lin, are you crazy? What are talking about, we can't just keep him! » the blonde threw her hands about. She really liked the little jelly newcomer and wouldn't even mind to keep him, but she tried to resist his cuteness and use common sense. «Yes, he's the loveliest little guy, but we don't know anything about him, it might be dangerous for everybody to leave him here! And you seem to be obsessed with the desire to keep different cute monsters; remember how you suggested keeping a piglet monster from Meridian when he attacked us? » **(A/N: this refers to one of the season 1 episodes, when the guardians fight against a pig-like monster and his large mother at Sheffield Institute)**

Hay Lin bit her lip. She did remember and it now seemed not the best idea in the world to her. But the case with the jelly ball was absolutely different!

«Yeah, Cornelia has a point» Caleb nodded «We can't leave him here, it's risky and unreasonable. We don't know what sort of creature he is and where he came from. Maybe he is very important there and powerful authorities from his world are searching for him right now; they might think we have captured him and keep him as a hostage, they may regard it as a reason for a political conflict and then are very likely to attack both Meridian and Earth! Do you want it to happen just because of your girly fancies! »

«Caleb, you're exaggerating it as always! Don't be so serious, » Irma waved her hand carelessly «it's just a little cute jelly ball and not a reason for a political conflict. Moreover, we are not going to hurt him in any way; oppositely, we'll take care of him and love him! Why can't we keep him? You like this adorable guy yourself, admit it! »

«Yes, pleeeeeease let us keep him! » Hay Lin started whining «Just look at him, Cornelia, he's sooooo cute! » and she took the poring and held him out on her outstretched arms for evidence.

Suddenly the creature broke free from Hay Lin's hands, jumped on Cornelia's high salient bust and after having got settled in her décolleté he looked in her eyes in the most touching way.

Caleb bit his lip.

«Oh, poor little thing! You really want to stay with us! » the Earth guardian exclaimed with pure affection and hugged the poring tightly. She had tried her best, but she liked the kawaii monster too much to be able to part with him so soon. «I know I shouldn't say that, but I'm consent: let's keep him for a while! »

«Hurray! » the four other guardians yelled victoriously and started hugging each other. Poring jumped up and down with joy and uttered a sound of satisfaction.

«Just look at Caleb, I bet he's jealous of Cornelia in her interest to the little one! » Irma whispered quietly to Taranee and both girls giggled.

«Girls!.. » Caleb sighed. He was in minority and the decision to leave the newcomer with them was eventually accepted. Well, if not the possibility of a political conflict, Caleb didn't even mind keeping the creature – he had already taken to the friendly jelly fellow.

Blunk on the contrary was hurt with the news that the insolent little monster would stay with the girls and Caleb for a long time. However, he didn't reveal any of his emotion and just snorted scornfully to show he didn't care the matter a bit.

«Now when the cutie is our pet, we need to make up a name for him! » Irma said with enthusiasm and everybody, including the poring, agreed.

«I suggest Archibald, that's my London cousin's name» Cornelia, who was holding the pink creature on her lap, said. «That's a very sophisticated aristocratic name; my mom says our family has ancient noble roots in Europe! » and she flipped her long blond hair.

«Yes, it sounds very sophisticated, but the little one isn't an aristocrat, he's just a jelly ball! » Will said laughing. «No, no human names! »

«Yup, something like Amoeba or Infusorium would suit him better» Taranee smiled in her usual scientific-like manner.

«No, it can't be, these are female name and he's a guy! » the Air guardian giggled. But then she raised her head in doubt. «Isn't he? »

The girls shared bewildered glances. The creature was just a cute round jelly ball and could as well be a girl. The guardians rested their questioning gaze on Caleb. «What? I'm not his mom to know that! » he hurried to reply.

The five glances returned to the poring and he nodded his head with confidence in order to confirm he really was a name and something like "amoeba" or "infusorium" could no way suit him.

«Then I have a suggestion» the Water guardian declared. «I vote for Pinky! »

«Nope, it's a silly idea to name him after a stupid cartoon mouse! » Cornelia protested. Poring completely agreed with her.

«Oh, I know, I know» Hay Lin suddenly yelled in an insane tone, which made everybody shudder, and clapped her hands joyfully. «Let's call him Tommy, that will be sooooo cute! »

The guardians and Caleb and even the jelly ball, who couldn't imagine himself under such a title, stared at her, puzzled. Yes, with no doubt this girl was too addicted to cuteness.

«Ummm, but we've come to the agreement not to use any human names» Will reminded shyly.

«Oh yes? Then do you have any variants yourself? » the Air guardian crossed her arms and pouted - she still considered her version of the name for the little monster the very best (and the very cute, which is much more important).

«Well, sine he's just a jelly bubble, let's call him "Bubble"! What do you think? » the redhead pondered.

Everybody nodded in approval and the poring jumped up and down and squeaked merrily – he was finally satisfied.

«That really suits him! » Taranee pointed out.

«And it's such a _kawaii_ name! » added the incorrigible Hay Lin.

«And look, the little one likes it! » Irma smiled «Congratulations, Bubble, now you have a name! » and the epopee with the poring name-choosing was eventually over.

Blunk made a "whatever" face and started eating his apples even in a more showing-off manner.

«Why are sitting here like this, little Bubble must be hungry! » Hay Lin suddenly bethought. «I'll fetch him something to eat» and she dashed from her place energetically and ran upstairs to bring some snack from the restaurant.

In a few minutes' time she dashed back into the basement with a bottle of milk and a small soup plate in her hands, skipped down the stairs, jumped from the last two of them and settled on the floor next to the other girls. «Dinner time, Bubble! » she announced joyfully while pouring the milk into the saucer. «I don't know if creatures like you drink milk, but anyway, help yourself! »

«Yay! » Bubble cried exuberantly and jumped off Cornelia's knees. He bounced in the direction of the saucer and started peacefully lapping the milk up. The girls were looking at him with tender emotion and awe, their hands crossed on their chest. Blunk snorted.

But then something really weird happened…

When the poring finished with the milk, he came up to the empty glass bottle and… swallowed it at once! Everybody gasped. But this wasn't all, after dealing with the bottle the little cutie jumped to the astonished Blunk and in an instant emptied his tube with rotten apples. Then Bubble smiled in the most adorable way as if he was waiting praise from the girls and Caleb for his grand deeds.

Silence was in the air – the guys were just exchanging mute glances. But the most picturesque was the look on Blunk's face. Perhaps he was incredibly stunned with Bubble's unbelievable insolence (it was already the second time in just one day when Blunk's apple property was taken away from him so rudely) or maybe he was really under a big impression of the poring's wonderful ability of eating all kinds of rubbish (although Blunk was a qualified garbage-eater he still wasn't skilled enough to eat glass crockery or other solid items and had a lot to be taught by Bubble) or perhaps both statements were the reason, but that sight was really worth seeing.

After about a minute a silence Cornelia managed to utter a sentence. «Oh… my… gosh!.. » she said slowly and separately, still not believing her eyes. «Has he really just done _this_? »

«I suppose so» Will nodded unconfidently. «Have to admit, I haven't expected it from such an adorable little thing. Even Blunk hasn't gone that far! »

Even the Air guardian, who had been totally obsessed with Bubble's kawainess, was in a bit of dismay.

This confusion was interrupted with Mrs. Lin's voice coming from upstairs. «Why did you need the milk, Hay Lin? What's up? » the old lady inquired curiously while going down the stairs. The guys had been sitting in the basement of the restaurant for already a while and she guessed something interesting was going on. «Have you planned something? »

As soon as the grandma went off the last stair and stood in the room, Bubble quickly bounced in her direction with a cheerful cry "PORING! " (the first one during his entire presence on Earth) and jumped on her hands. «Poring! »

«Oh, hello, little gentleman! » Mrs. Lin said with a smile and petted the cute monster. She seemed to be absolutely not angry or at least astonished with the presence of a strange foreign creature in her house, on the contrary she gave him a warm welcome. «Where did you get him, girls? » she raised her heads and looked at the girls and Caleb.

«Granny, this is Bubble, Caleb brought him today from Meridian» Hay Lin started to chatter in explanation. She had completely got over the tiny incident with the bottle and was again enthusiastic about the poring. «He's our pet! »

«Wow, did you hear him say that? » Cornelia asked the others. «After all he turned out to be able to speak. Was it like "poring" or something? »

«Yes, he said the same thing to me back in Meridian, but I have no idea what this word means» Caleb confessed.

«Perhaps it's his name? Maybe he's Poring, not Bubble? » Irma presumed.

«I think it's more likely to be the name of his species» Taranee said gravely and adjusted her glasses. «I mean many animal species are named after the sounds they utter, so the mysterious "poring" might be the title of his kin»

«You wanna say there are other porings? » Will inquired.

Taranee shrugged, «Not excluded».

«Poring, poring! » Bubble nodded in approval.

«So girl, how did this pretty creature get here anyway? » Mrs. Lin went on trying to elicit.

So the guys told the old lady the entire story with the poring, and during their narration Bubble cried out jolly sounds and Blunk was sitting in his corner with his empty tube with his arms crossed, offended with the whole world.

«I see, » the former Air guardian nodded when the story was over. «I guess Caleb's right, it's not safe to leave the little gentleman here since we don't know what world he's from and the possibility of a political conflict is real»

«See, I told ya! » Caleb crossed his arms and looked at the girls with triumph.

«But Mrs. Lin!! » all the five guardian stared at her with pleading eyes and Bubble sobbed and compassionately whispered his usual «Poring…»

«Patience, girls, I still haven't finished… » the grandma had a sly expression on her face. «It'll take me time to find out Bubble's real homeland and in the meantime I think we can keep him with us»

«Yayx! » the girls cheered and hugged each other. The small incident with Bubble swallowing the bottle certainly had brought a little bit of agitation into the company, but it was soon forgotten. Even despite such a quality of his like gluttony, the guardians liked the little thing too much to let him go. Blunk snorted – he was getting used that everything that day was against him.

«I'm also human, what normal female would resist such a cutie? » Mrs. Lin smiled and hugged the poring as if she was a young schoolgirl.

«So, whose gonna shelter the poring for a while? » Will asked her teammates when they were finished with cheering.

«Definitely not me! » the rebel leader firmly shook his head. He still tried to remain a real man in the all-female company. «Firstly, it's not a man's job and secondly, Blunk just won't let me, look how jealous he is! » Blunk turned with his back to everyone is response – for heaven's sake, he was on a strike!

«Ohhhhh, I know, then let _me_ take him! » Hay Lin started jumping up and down. «Granny, please, please, please, please, please! »

«Alright, girl, you can have it, but just don't let him go into the restaurant – I don't want to lose all my customers! » Mrs. Lin said with fake strictness.

«Hurray! Bubble's staying with me! » the girl jumped up once again and took the poring from her grandmother's hands. «I hope you'll like my room, little one! Oh, I wish granny would spend a lot of time indicating your home world, that way you'll be able to stay with us for a long time! »

«Po-ring! » Bubble said with a wide grin of satisfaction on his cute face. He liked this world and those nice friendly girls. He also liked the pretty green monster and was very sorry he didn't want to make friends with him. The poring had genuine respect towards Blunk and was completely fascinated with his ability of eating mud, but all his efforts to show the Meridian resident his friendliness were vain so far. Well, there would be now plenty of time to correct that! "Poring day one" was soon about to begin…

So that is how everything started. Neither the guardians, nor Caleb, now Mrs. Lin, nor even Blunk could imagine that such a little event and such a little poring could be the prologue to such grand consequences. But we won't run too far ahead in our story. So, we're looking forward to Bubble's first day at Hay Lin's.

**That is it, hope you liked the first chapter! Now click the nice little button down there and leave a nice little review for us! Fair criticism is as welcome as praise.**

**You can also check my and Infanta's drawings for this fic on fanart-central. My nick there is FleurDeLaLune and her nick is again Infanta. Also, check out my album on photobucket to see a few useful reference pictures for you, so that you can better understand the whole thing. Go to type in Titaniafairyqueen, click "View Titaniafairyqueen's album" in the upper right corner, go to "Ragnarok Online" album (the grey panel on the left), then to "Ragnarok special" and then you'll find the Poring's pictures. I'll be adding pictures with each new chapter where necessary. **

**Oh, and for readers of "Ghost of a rose", I don't know when I'll update it, but I'll definitely do it, so don't worry!**

**That's all for now, don't forget to review! Remember the author's golden rule: the more reviews I get the sooner I update))**

**Kisses!**

**Chelsea Wellhord & Infanta**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, finally I've posted it! I'm really really really sorry that it took me ages to update! Also my apologies for "Ghost of a rose", I promise to update it approximately soon. What am I to do, I'm a busy person) ****Hmm, I'm very satisfied with the review result for the first chapter, thanks to all of you! I see everybody was delighted with the poring, that's great! So, enjoy the second chap) What is going happen to our kawaii little Bubble?;)**

Chapter 2

It was a beautiful morning of a beautiful spring day, moreover it was Saturday and the whole weekend was ahead – everything promised to be perfect. And it was also the first day of the girls' big poring mission.

Hay Lin woke up pretty late, yawned fruitily and stretched herself. «Poring – day one» she said cheerfully to herself and climbed out of the bed. The first thing she saw was that Bubble wasn't anywhere (he must have escaped from the room during the night) but nothing could spoil the optimistic Air guardian's mood that sunny morning so she decided not to worry, hoping that the creature would definitely turn up later.

After breakfast was over Mrs. Lin called her granddaughter to the kitchen. «Hay Lin, it's a very significant day for our restaurant today» the old lady said «We're having an important customer and we must prepare a very special dinner. I'm going to cook the Beijing Duck! » she rubbed her palms with pleasure as she spoke about her best culinary masterpiece.

«So that's why there is so much food in the pantry! » Hay Lin guessed «But won't that important customer overeat, there is food enough for a whole army! »

«Actually the important customer is a bunch of 10 people so it'll be just fine» Mrs. Lin explained «Now go to the pantry and bring me the big duck which I bought yesterday specially for this occasion. I'll teach you my best recipe! »

The Air guardian obediently went to the pantry to fetch the duck fillet but when she opened the door rather a vivid scene appeared in front of her eyes. The pantry looked as if it had been raided by the Huns: there was a terrible mess, all the food supplies were mysteriously gone and their wretched remains were scattered all around the floor and on the shelves. Right in the middle of the room was proudly sitting Blunk as large as life and something slightly resembling small bones and remains of the duck was scattered on the floor around him. The creature itself was holding a big bowl with some kind of dubious substance of vague colour inside (only God knows what it could be). Blunk seemed to have a great time, though. He was scooping the substance with his hand and then licking it off with his tongue. When the Air guardian appeared he smiled widely – Blunk didn't like to be alone for a long time.

«Wow! » Hay Lin was only to say. She had no comments. The girl was aware of the average scale of pogrom that Blunk could commit but _this_ exceeded all the expectations. «Uh, grandma, I guess we have a _tiny _problem…» she called out to her granny trying to imagine her reaction. The old lady appeared soon and the reaction followed immediately.

«Good heavens! Blunk, what have you done!? » Mrs. Lin exclaimed in shock looking over her once neat and tidy pantry «How could you eat all the food? I've told you about the customer and asked you not to touch anything here; you've known how important it is! You did a very bad thing, Blunk! »

The little creature made a wry face – he couldn't believe that he had just been so awfully insulted. Where was justice in this world? How could he be accused so unfairly?

«Blunk not eat Mrs. Lin's food! Blunk good! » he quickly started to justify «Blunk eat only mayonnaise! » and he hold out the bowl with his medley (so that's the answer to the puzzle, that strange substance was mayonnaise! Or least _used to be _mayonnaise a long time ago). «Blunk not guilty» the creature assured once more «_He_ eat everything! » and he pointed at something with his dirty finger.

The former and present Air guardians looked at the direction he was showing. Suddenly there was some kind of bustle behind one of the sideboards and after a few seconds very slowly from behind of it came… the poring! Yes-yes, it was Bubble in person! He was all dirty with some food waste and looked a bit fatter and more round than usual. In addition he had a very guilty look. Now it was obvious who had been toiling at Mrs. Lin's food supply!

«Poring…» the little monster pronounced shyly and looked up at Hay Lin and her grandmother.

«Bubble! » Hay Lin cried in delight «There you are! And I was wondering where you had vanished to»

«So that's who has dealt with my foodstuff so quickly! » Mrs. Lin crossed her arms. She wasn't as delighted to see poring as her granddaughter. «How could you _alone _eat so much? »

Bubble shrugged – it still wasn't a limit for him.

«Oh, granny, please don't be mad at him! » Hay Lin begged «He's so… adorable! »

«Alright, there's no point in lessoning. At least everybody has the right to make mistakes! » the old lady smiled. Indeed she was worried about her restaurant's reputation but desponding was against her principals. Optimism was in blood of members of the Lin family.

«But what are we going to do now about your important customer? » the Air guardian inquired.

«Oh, don't worry, we'll think something up! » Mrs. Lin said matter-of-factly «We still have time before dinner so I'll go and buy some new food and then we'll create something in the kitchen. You'll be helping me! » she noted «And now take this little walking stomach…» she pointed at Bubble «away from anything eatable and make sure your parents don't see him»

«Yes, ma'am! » Hay Lin enunciated briskly and bent her arm and touched her temple with her fingers as if she was saluting.

Blunk smiled widely – at last there was a little justice! Although he was still offended for being accused and called bad names he was glad that his poring opponent was going to be removed from the pantry and punished deservedly.

Mrs. Lin headed to the door but then she stopped, turned around, looked at Blunk's shining face and remains of food lying around him and eventually said after pondering a little, «Hay Lin, take Blunk with you too, just in case»

Blunk opened his mouth with astonishment – no, for all that there was still no justice in the world! Why did she send away such an innocent guy as Blunk? Why was he treated in the same way as Bubble, who had destroyed her supplies? Oh, after the appearance of that kawaii pink jelly ball Blunk acquired a ton of problems!

«Okey! » Hay Lin grinned «Let's go, guys! » she commanded to Blunk and Bubble and the three of them left the messy pantry. Mrs. Lin estimated the scale of damage and hurried to the supermarket.

Fortunately, everything worked out. Mrs. Lin managed to buy all the necessary products and since she was not only a member of the Council of Kandrakar but also a wizard on the kitchen, she prepared a wonderful meal just before the _important customer _arrived. The important customer consisted of 10 Japanese delegates (or whoever they were) who really loved the food. «Arigato (**this means "thank you" in Japanese)**), arigato gosaimas, Lin-san! » each of them bowed to old lady in sign of gratitude when the dinner was over. The reputation of the restaurant wasn't spoilt (yay!).

But the fact remained a fact: Bubble couldn't stay at Hay Lin's any longer. The Air guardian tried to protest, but Mrs. Lin stated it laconically and straightly to the poring: «Very sorry, young hungry gentleman, but your appetite and my business are two completely incompatible things » They had to do something about him.

And the grandmother and granddaughter soon found a solution. In ten minutes' time the other four guardians were gathered and now the whole company was sitting in their "secret headquarters" –the basement of "Silver dragon". Will and Cornelia were sitting on Caleb's bed, Taranee and Irma perched on some large boxes lying around, Mrs. Lin was sitting on a chair specially brought from the restaurant and Hay Lin was sitting next to her in the middle of the premises on the most honourable place – the largest cupboard box. Bubble was sitting on her lap and looking around with interest – at least his destiny was going to be decided. Blunk was standing nearby with his arms crossed – he was still offended with Hay Lin for having suspected him in such an awful crime. The four girls had bewilderment written on their faces; they didn't understand why Hay Lin had called all of them so promptly.

«Ahem, ladies! I gathered you here to tell you pretty unpleasant news» Hay Lin started solemnly and significantly but then looked around the room once again and her solemnity disappeared instantly. «Wait a sec, where's Caleb? » she asked in her usual voice.

«He has chores in Meridian, as usual! » Cornelia said a bit sadly – she didn't like when Caleb went to Meridian for a long time and left her.

«Alright, this doesn't matter. We'll cope without him, hopefully. So, granny and I have called you all to tell you some unpleasant news…» the optimistic Air guardian continued solemnly.

«What news? » Will started to worry.

«Well, in fact, we're having some trouble because of Bubble, cause he has eaten all our food supplies» Hay Lin explained giggling slightly – she had an optimistic attitude even to such kind of problems «Now we can't leave him neither at the restaurant nor in the apartment. I think that's not a reason and I still want to keep him, but granny says that the customers are more precious to her… » she looked at Mrs. Lin still hoping she would change her mind.

«Yes, exactly like this! » the old lady nodded «Oh, Bubble is an adorable young man but we need to maintain our reputation! »

«So one of you will have to shelter poring for a while, please? » the Air guardian turned her pleading eyes to her friends.

The four guardians exchanged silent glances. Indeed the poring was an adorable little thing and every girl would like to have such an unusual pet, but Will, Cornelia, Taranee and Irma had been the witnesses of that "adorable little thing" eating an empty bottle and now he had destroyed a week supply of food in a minute. His pantophagy and eternal huger could become a big problem in living with him.

«Uh, I value my foodstuff and don't want all of it to be eaten by Bubble…» Taranee noticed very shyly.

«Come on, Bubble is such a little cutie, why don't you want to take him? » Irma instantly glanced at her with reproach.

«Poring! » Bubble cried out and jumped up and down on Hay Lin's knees. This could be translated as "Of course I'm a little cutie! There's no doubt in it!"

«But if he's such a little cutie, why don't you shelter him yourself, Irmie? » the Earth guardian stood up for Taranee.

«I would love to but there's one little problem aka my brother Chris at my house» the Water guardian explained.

«Will, why don't _you_ take the poring for a while? » Hay Lin came up with an idea «First, you're the leader of our guardian team; second, you live only with your mom and it will be easier for you to hide Bubble from her, and third – you just look at Bubble, he's so kawaii! »

Poring smiled in evidence – it was such a touching sight!

Will couldn't resist and took him in her hands. «Of course I'll take him! Bubble is soooo cute! » she grinned.

Blunk, who had been standing aloof and trying to attract attention during the whole poring problem discussion, couldn't bear it anymore. Life was so unjust! That jelly guy had wholly invaded his territory; he ate the entire foodstuff in the pantry and the girls were now making a fuss of him, admiring his cuteness and praising him and he, Blunk, who had always been remarked for his model behavior, was so unfairly accused of eating remains of the duck. He approached the guardians, pouted and looked at them resentfully. «Not fair! » he cried «Bubble bad! Bubble eat Mrs. Lin's food! Blunk good, but girls don't like Blunk! »

«Calm down, Blunk, what's the matter? » Mrs. Lin asked the creature since she didn't manage to make out anything of his speech.

«Oh, he's just jealous of our Bubble, can't you see? » Cornelia crossed her arms cunningly.

«Come on, Blunk, we haven't forgotten you, you're still our friend! » Hay Lin tried to make it up with him «And Bubble is our friend too, you're both our friends! And it's selfish to be jealous of him, you should make friends with him! »

Blunk wasn't going to make friends with his jelly rival. He concluded that the girls didn't understand him and all five of them (and even Caleb!) were now on poring's side. The little green creature sighed and went to the backyard of the restaurant to climb into the biggest trash bin and at least somehow cheer up.

«Poor Blunk! » Irma said after he had left «Hope he'll get over it soon»

«Poring…» Bubble sighed – he truly respected Blunk and wanted to be friends with him.

«Anyway, Mrs. Lin, have you found out anything about where Bubble came from? » Taranee turned to the old lady.

Mrs. Lin shook her head. «It is much more difficult than I thought. » She replied «I supposed the poring had got here by chance from a nearby world, but this hypothesis turned out to be wrong. I'll go to the Council of Kandrakar tomorrow and together we'll try to figure it out, and meanwhile let him stay at Will's»

«Alrightly, » Will said «Bubble, hope you'll like it at my house! »

«Po-ring! » the jelly ball cried out gaily. He regretted that he had to leave Hay Lin – he really liked staying at the restaurant – but a new housemate sounded really good and he was ready for a new big adventure. «Poring! »

**Oh, it seems that the little cutie isn't as harmless as it appears to be)**** How will Bubble do at Will's? I promise to update sooner next time, and you please send me reviews! I want to know your honest opinion, even if you'll have to criticize me. Tell me what you like the best and what – the least. The more reviews, the sooner I update nothing personal, it's business Thanks in advance and c ya! Hope you liked it)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! Finally I wasn't lazy enough to update this! Sorry it took me long again. And thanks to everybody who reviewed the previous chapter. I dedicate this chap to you guys!**

Chapter 3

Will opened the door and hastily ran into her house. «Afternoon, Ma! » she cried skipping with speed of a meteor past her mother who was doing some stuff in the kitchen.

«Hey, love» Mrs. Vandom turned around to face her daughter «I wanted to talk to you…»

But the red-haired guardian was already running upstairs. She was carrying Bubble with her in a large round bag and it was in her interests not to reveal this little crime to her strict mom. So the only true way to control the situation was to escape to her room – her legal territory – as soon as possible. «I'll be in my room» she cried to Mrs. Vandom swiftly while running up the stairs.

«Wait a minute, young lady! » Susan vainly tried to hold up her daughter «Why are you in such a hurry? And what is that bag, Will? Will! Come back at once! » But it was too late – the girl had already disappeared behind the door. «Oh, that awkward age! » the woman sighed hopelessly «Must be again some kind of teenage secrets that parents mustn't know about! Oh, well. » she shrugged and returned to the kitchen.

The leader of the guardians closed the door behind her and sighed with relief. «There! She didn't suspect anything! » she smiled to herself. Bubble started fidgeting in his bag – he wanted to get out.

Will turned away from the door and the first thing that she saw was the cheerful Mr. Huggles – he squealed with joy to greet his mistress and instantly climbed up her shoulder. «Hey there, Mr. H! » Will petted the creature. «I have to show you something, not sure if you like it or not»

The girl was very worried that her pet might not like the poring – who knows what attitude do dormice have to pink jelly bubbles? She couldn't let the girls down, now she was completely responsible for their little protégé, but she either didn't want to trouble neither Mr. Huggles nor Bubble by making them live with somebody they didn't like. So she crossed her fingers for luck, hoping that both pets would be tolerant towards each other, slowly opened the bag and shook the poring out of it. «So…» she said to the dormouse «This is Bubble, your new neighbour…»

The reaction of both Mr. Huggles and Bubble wasn't at first very clear. For several seconds they were just standing opposite each other staring at each other silently with their large black eyes and Will couldn't tell if that was because they were too glad to see each other or, on the contrary, too unpleased to see each other. After about a minute of being in such state, Mr. Huggles shyly and slowly approached the newcomer and carefully smelled him. Suddenly…

«PORING! » Bubble cried merrily all of a sudden and jumped up.

The dormouse also uttered a sound of joy and jumped up. Then again Bubble, then again Mr. H and after that both started running around the room chasing each other playfully. In only one minute those two seemed to have become best comrades for the entire life!

Will sighed with relief – she was very happy that the two creatures made friends so quickly. And although her mother protested against keeping pets and Mr. Huggles was the only big exception (Will imagined how she would have protested against keeping a little monster from an unknown other world), the redhead decided to leave the poring at her house right until Mrs. Lin finds out where he was from.

The play of two kawaii fluffy balls (well, Bubble wasn't actually fluffy, but definitely was kawaii))) was so cute and delightful, that Will also joined them after some time and the three ended up having a small pillow fight.

Will, Bubble and Mr. Huggles had the most wonderful time together, but according to the Sod's law everything good should first or last be interrupted. «Will, the lunch is ready! » Mrs. Vandom's voice was heard from downstairs.

«I have to go, guys» Will said with regret and shook the fuzz from the pillow off her head «I promise to be back soon. Bubble, be a good boy! »

«Po-ring! » Bubble muttered indistinctly while chewing the corner of the pillow.

Mr. H showed from under the bed and gave Will a sign that she didn't have to worry about them.

«Ok then» the girl said and left the room.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Will was trying to eat as fast as she could in order to get to her room as soon as possible and check how her pets (especially the poring) were doing.

Mrs. Vandom, who was sitting opposite the guardian, also eating her lunch, was watching her daughter with obvious horror. And it's not hard to understand her – even pigs were able to eat in a more civilized way than Will. Susan had been intending to carry out a pedagogic heart-to-heart conversation with her offspring a long time ago and she found the moment of their lunch pretty suitable. «Will…» she started shyly.

The red-haired guardian tore herself away from food and looked at her mother. It was not the most presentable spectacle – her knife and fork with a piece of tomato on it were half-way to her mouth, her mouth itself was full with rice and her lips were all dirty with gravy. «What? » she asked with her moth full, rice nearly falling out of it.

Susan looked at her daughter with her eyebrows raised, a bit confused, and decided to put off the mother-and-daughter conversation till better times. «Uh, help yourself, honey…» she said.

Will mumbled something like "Thank you" and returned to her activity.

Susan sighed. Things used to be much simpler when Will was a child. But Will was already 16. And now she seemed to have a lot of secrets from her mom, she was constantly hanging out with the girls and Susan always had a feeling her girl was hiding something serious from her. Take even that big round bag for example – Susan was still wondering what could be inside it. Apparently, such a situation was common for all the teenagers and their parents, but Mrs. Vandom still couldn't get used to the fact that her little Will had become a big girl. She sipped her coffee and went on reflecting upon the dilemma of fathers and sons.

Will finished her lunch and leapt from the table. «I'll be in my room» she informed her mom quickly, grabbed a big apple from the table for Bubble and headed to the stairway.

«Will, I've made a meat pie for dessert » Mrs. Vandom said «It's still in the oven so you'll have to wait till it's ready and cooled down a little»

«Meat pie! » the girl licked her lips – it was one of her favourite courses. «Okey, call me when it's ready! » and she ran upstairs.

The microwave beeped and Mrs. Vandom put the plate with the meat pie out of it. She put the pie on the table to let it cool down a bit, and went to the living-room to do some chores…

«I'm back, guys! » Will cried entering her room. But what she saw didn't really please her – there was no Mr. Huggles and (what was way more significant) no poring. Both must have escaped from the room while Will was having her lunch.

«Oh great, they're gone! » the leader of the guardians slapped her forehead. «Where can Bubble be right now? My mom mustn't see him! »

She topseyturvyed the entire room seeking the jelly ball, but with no success. Will stood in the middle of her bedroom thinking where would she go if she was a poring but her reflections were interrupted by her mother's frantic yell from downstairs.

«WILL!! »

«Coming, mom» the red-haired guardian cried back in a shivering voice. She expected the worst to have happened and was trying to invent a good reason why some kind of jelly-like monster was walking around their house (and she was sure her mom had come across Bubble) while running down the stairs, but the case was a bit different.

When Will appeared in the kitchen she saw some bread crumbs on the table and next to it was standing her infuriated mom. Mrs. Vandom was… holding Mr. Huggles by the scruff of his neck! The creature was yipping and trying to break free – he didn't like such an unceremonious treatment!

«Will, how many times did I tell you we shouldn't keep this awful animal in our house? » Susan questioned her daughter. «Look what he has done! I didn't leave the pie for more than a minute and he already managed to eat the whole of it! Even the dish is gone! Uh, what a troublesome creature! »

The girl made note of Mr. Huggles' vain attempts to slip away and the fact of the missing dish and everything became absolutely clear to her. The dormouse had been unfairly accused – he didn't eat the pie and just unfortunately happened to be next to the locus delicti thus getting in Mrs. Vandom's fit of temper – and the real culprit was none other than Bubble! Eating a whole pie at one fling and finishing the meal with a table plate was totally the poring's style. But Mrs. Vandom shouldn't know that and Will decided to play up to the situation in order to hide the truth.

«Oh, how could you?! Bad Mr. Huggles! » She gave a scolding to the poor dormouse «Mom, let me take him, I need to talk to him seriously! » with those words Will took the creature from her mother and turned the corner of the wall.

«My daughter is talking to a dormouse. » Susan stated to herself, sighed and went to the small pantry which served as kind of laundry to put the dirty laundry into the washing-machine.

«Ok, Mr. H, I'm very very sorry for shouting at you and calling you "bad"» Will whispered to her pet when they stayed alone. «Tell me, it wasn't you who ate the pie, right? »

Mr. Huggles shook his head.

«I knew it, it was Bubble! » Will bit her lip and finally let the dormouse go. «I must find him right now; he must somewhere in the house, but where? »

At that moment she heard her mother calling her, «Will, I've just put the dirty laundry into the washing machine, go and check if everything's alright and put it out when it's ready»

«Oh, perfect! Right now, when I must search for the poring, I have to go and do some stupid household chores! » she grumbled to herself but obediently went to the laundry.

The first thing that caught her attention when she entered the room were some bread crumbs scattered on the floor not far from the door. It was a bad sign and some unpleasant suspicions crept into Will's mind.

The girl approached the big empty flasket where the dirty laundry had been lying a few minutes ago and saw some crumbs on the bottom of it. This fact gave Will base for more unpleasant suspicions…

Her heart sank and she turned her head to the washing-machine, which was standing at the opposite wall. Something pink and soft was rotating in its centrifuge.

«Bubble, NO! » the guardian cried and dashed to the cursed electronic device…

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

«Poor tiny Bubble! He must have fallen asleep in the flasket and mom accidentally put him into the washing machine together with the dirty laundry. There were even small pieces of jelly remained in the inside of the machine after I had put him out…»

The whole gang (except Caleb who again had stuff in Meridian) was again in their secret headquarters as it had been expected. When Will had called them, the girls were a bit surprised that she had asked them to come just a few hours after sheltering poring, but now they perfectly understood the reason.

On Will's lap was sitting _the very clean _Bubble and crying bitterly. «Poring, poring! » he sobbed inconsolably and this could be translated as "Woe is me!" Two spurts of tears were flowing from his large black eyes – it was the most cute and touching sight, but at the same time very sad.

The other girls were sitting around the room and looking at the poor creature with pure compassion. Even Blunk, who was sitting on the floor opposite Will, took pity of his pink sworn rival and looked at him sorrowfully – he might have not been on best terms with Bubble, but he could imagine what it was like to have been in a washing machine and it was the worst kind of torture for the little eternally dirty monster! If he were Bubble, he would express his grief in a more ardent way.

«Poor poring! It must really hurt! » Irma said sympathetically and gave Bubble a big ripe apple in order to comfort him.

But the jelly ball didn't get any physical harm, although he had been supposed to; he looked hale and hearty as ever (porings are enduring guys!))). But instead he was hurt morally – Bubble just couldn't put up with such boorish treatment. Such a delicate piece of clothing as a poring should be hand-washed and not put in a washing machine with other base laundry!

«Yeah, I agree with Irma, poor little thing! » Cornelia nodded «So I guess he can't stay at Will's any longer? »

«He won't want it himself» Will sighed «Right, Bubble? »

The poring, who was chewing his apple, shook his head confidently – he liked Will, but he didn't like that bad adventure with the infernal washing machine!

«Then who will take him for a while? » Hay Lin posed the rhetorical question.

There was a minute of silence.

Irma couldn't bear that anymore. «Ok, that's it. Bubble, pack your stuff, you're moving to my house! » she declared with confidence.

«Poring? » Bubble raised his big wet from tears eyes at the girl.

«But Irma, what about Chris? » Taranee inquired «You've said you can't shelter Bubble because of him, your brother is likely to discover the poring»

«That's true, but I don't care» the Water guardian smiled. «You and Cornelia also have siblings and that doesn't make much difference who takes Bubble. At any rate, I suppose Chris isn't far worse than Peter or Lilian and I'll try to keep poring away from him and my parents. So everything will be alright »

The girls looked at her with gratitude for her volunteering action.

Will handed over the creature to her. «Here. I hope Mrs. Lin finds out soon where he came from. I don't know what world he's from, but I bet there were no washing-machines there! »

«Good world indeed! » Blunk approved. For him a place with a lot of mud and without any washing devices like machines or baths would be a real paradise!

«Hey, maybe he's from Zambala? » Taranee supposed. «Everything there is purple and Bubble is something like that colour»

«No, that can't be Zambala for sure» Hay Lin shook her head «Granny told me Kadma is really anxious about the inhabitants of her planet and she would have let everybody know a long time ago if Bubble accidentally escaped from there»

«Po-ring!! » Bubble said gaily. It wasn't clear what he wanted to say, but he wasn't upset about the washing-machine accident anymore – he was looking forward to new exciting adventures.

«So, let's go» Cornelia suggested and stood up «It'll be evening soon. Let's have a sneak and walk Irma home to see how Bubble settles there, do you mind? »

«Of course not, thanks, guys» the Water guardian smiled, hid the excited poring in Will's bag and the whole gang headed to the stairway.

Blunk followed them with a bit of delay – he was still reflecting upon the perfect place with no washing machines and a lot of mud…

**That is it. Please, review! Hope you like it) By the way, I have to tell you that I'm going away to the countryside till autumn, so there will be no updates before this time, sorry! And also sorry for "Ghost of a rose", I've been toughly neglecting it for the last few months, but I promise to work on new chapters during the summer. Thanks to all of you once again, kisses!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, people! I'm sooooo sorry I vanished so suddenly and haven't updated for ages! Please, don't be mad on me! **

**Well, I have to say that this year I'll be way busier with my school and other stuff, so I'll have less free time for writing. I still promise, though, to keep up with my stories, although I'll probably be updating less often. The new chapter of "Ghost of a rose" still isn't ready, but I definitely will take it up some time. **

**In the meantime, I'll be working on this crossover project, which is going to be a long story, and also my non-fanfiction novel, which I'm not planning to post in the Internet yet. **

**That's quite all I wanted to tell you. So, going back to the story, how will little Bubble the poring do at Irma's? Enjoy reading!**

Chapter 4

It was Sunday morning. Irma, her parents and little brother Christopher were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. The Water guardian was rather calm about Bubble, who was now living in her house. Before going away from her room and leaving the poring alone she closed the window and after exiting she locked the door so that she was now absolutely sure the little creature wouldn't get out and somehow catch her parents' eye. During the night everything also had gone well (at least Irma thought so) and Irma had no doubts Bubble would stay with her right until Mrs. Lin figures out what to do with him. And why only Hay Lin and Will had so many problems with that kawaii jelly ball?

The breakfast was going along in utter silence and Chris didn't like it. He wanted to entertain the family somehow and said loudly, «And you know what I saw tonight? »

His mother looked at him with attention and father tore himself away from the paper he had a habit to read every morning. Irma wasn't really interested, but Chris didn't care much about her. He was glad he managed to intrigue his parents and they were now listening to him like an adult. «Can you imagine that, I woke up at night and went downstairs to drink some water…» he went on with his narration and took a big bite of his sandwich «So, I came inside the kitchen and, you know what, a little pink jelly bubble was sitting on the table! It was so cute! »

When Irma heard the words "little pink jelly bubble" she choked over her tea but nobody noticed that. Of course, how stupid she was! She had forgotten to lock the door at night and the poring must have been wandering around the house! That was a catastrophe! The only hope was that mom and dad wouldn't believe Chris for sure.

«Yes, it was sitting on the table and eating apples! » the pleased boy went on with excitement swaying on his chair. «And when I was drinking water it said something to me! But I don't remember what. Apparently, it was "Poring!" – I don't know what it means, but it must have been greeting me! And then I went back to my room and it remained here on the table eating apples! »

«Chris, you're talking rubbish! » Irma nearly yelled but then bethought herself quickly and spoke in a more calm tone in order not to show her nervousness. «That's utter nonsense, pink jelly bubbles don't exist! Mom, dad! » she turned to her surprised parents «Don't listen to him, he's a child, he made everything up! »

«How did you say, honey? Little pink jelly bubble? » Mrs. Lair asked her son with astonishment paying no attention to Irma's words. «Guys, you will never believe this, but I also saw it! »

The Water guardian's jaw fell down.

«Yes, at first I thought it was just a dream but now, when Chris told us this story, I start to doubt it. What a strange coincidence! » Mrs. Lair continued. «I also got thirsty that night and I went down to the kitchen. And when I entered I saw the _very same _pink jelly bubble sitting in the sink and drinking tap water! I remember that clearly! Then I didn't pay much attention to this incident, I thought it was only a dream! But now… That's so weird! »

«Wait a second, guys, what did you say about the jelly bubble? » Mr. Lair entered the conversation. «That might sound crazy, but I also saw the _very same _creature tonight! »

Poor Irma was once and for all killed by those words.

Mrs. Lair and Chris looked at the police officer in surprise. «Yes, yes, I didn't make it up! » Mr. Lair confessed to his wife and son «I woke up this night and went to the bathroom and, you will never believe, saw that round jelly guy in the tub! He had somehow managed to turn on the water and was having a shower! I thought I never had a weirder dream, but if you two have also seen him… » he rubbed his chin «Are you sure we all saw the same jelly bubble? Pink and round and with large black eyes? »

Mrs. Lair and Chris nodded with astonishment – that was the exact description of the mysterious creature. «Mysticism…» Mrs. Lair whispered.

Then all three of them turned to Irma, who had been silent during the whole conversation and was in some kind of horrified trance. «Irma, daughter, haven't _you _seen anything strange tonight? » her father asked carefully.

«No-no-no, I was sleeping and didn't see anything at all, there was absolutely nothing strange! » the Water guardian replied hastily. «And you either haven't seen anything – it was just a dream, a very queer dream! All three of you just dreamt about the same thing! That's just a coincidence, a really amazing coincidence, that's all! » But it was already too late to try to settle down the situation – the peering looks of her parents and even her silly little brother concentrated upon her. The only true way was an honest try to make off. «Oh, I've just remembered – the girls are waiting for me! I promised them to come over this morning and I completely forgot! » she started to make up «I… I just need to take… uh, some stuff in my room and I'll go. It was nice to talk to you, guys, see you later! » she leapt up from the table and dashed upstairs with the speed of a bullet.

Mr. and Mrs. Lair and even Chris all exchanged surprised glances and shrugged.

Irma was running up the stairs to her room in utter shock. Now she understood why Hay Lin and Will had to return Bubble back to Mrs. Lin. They had _had_ problems with him and now _she_ had those problems too, but hers were even worse. Oh, why in the universe did she forget to lock the door before going to bed? Why did poring go out of the room? Why couldn't all the members of her family just keep still, why did all of them had an urge to leave their rooms at night? Everything was against her that day! Well, nothing could be done about that now, Bubble couldn't stay at her house any longer. She had to take him back to the girls and the quicker she did it the better it would be.

The Water guardian rushed into her room and instantly closed the door behind her. Bubble was peacefully bouncing on her bed. «Poring! » he squealed joyfully when he saw Irma – he had got bored of sitting alone in the room and was glad that she was back.

«Bubble, what have you done?! » the Water guardian immediately went for the poring «Why did you go out of the room at night? Now my parents and Chris have seen you and we're having biiiig problems! »

«Poring? » the little monster raised his big black puppy eyes and looked up at Irma. Why was he shouted at again? Was he guilty of something? He just couldn't sleep at night and it was too boring to sit in the room and do nothing while Irma was sleeping. So in order not to disturb her he decided to have a little excursion around the house on his own. And he so much liked that little boy he met in the kitchen!

The Water guardian looked at Bubble and gave up. He was too cute to be cross with him and she couldn't resist. «Alright, Pori, I'm not mad on you» she said in a friendly way and patted the poring on the head. «After all, it wasn't actually your fault – just the circumstances weren't the best » she added.

«Po-ring! » Bubble was glad Irma wasn't angry with him anymore.

«Don't worry, we'll think something up! » the Water guardian smiled (she was an optimist at least!), took her cell phone and dialed a number.

«Will? Yes, it's me! » she jabbered when the leader of the guardians took the phone. «What? … Oh, that's exactly why I'm calling! It's Bubble, we're having problems… Don't ask me now, it's a long story. The fact is that he can't stay at my house any longer… Yeah, you got it, I'm taking him back. Hope somebody else of the girls agrees to take him. … Right, I'll be at "Silver Dragon" in 10 minutes, call the girls! … Okey-dokey, see ya! » and she hung up.

«You see, it's gonna be alright! » she said cheerfully to the poring, who was still bouncing on her bed. She grabbed a big old bag and opened it. «But we have to do it quickly before mom and dad suspect something else! Now jump! » she commanded.

«Poring! Poring! » Bubble cried with glee and jumped into the bag – there was a new exciting adventure waiting for him and he liked it!

Irma quickly closed the bag and ran out of the room. Leafy, her tortoise, watched the girl leave and sighed heavily – she **(honestly, I don't know exactly if Leafy was a she or a he**) had already got so accustomed to Bubble's pleasant neighbourhood!

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Soon the whole company gathered at the "Silver dragon's" basement again – it had become a ritual since the little poring joined them. The guardians were in their full complement, only Blunk was absent – he was with Caleb in Meridian at the moment.

«…So that's how it happened» Irma finished her narration «The fact of the matter is that I can't keep Bubble any longer. Cornelia, Taranee, » she looked at the two girls «which one of you will take him for a while? »

«Poring? » Bubble looked at the girls hopefully.

The Earth and Fire guardians exchanged awkward glances.

«Sorry, I can't because of the little disaster - Lilian» Cornelia said swiftly «Taranee will take him! »

«Wait a minute! » Taranee put her hands on her hips with indignation «I _also _have a brother, remember? Doesn't the name Peter Cook tell you anything? »

«But your brother _won't_ dress Bubble in his dolls' clothes and then show him to Chris and everybody else in the world in addition just to boast, and Lil is very likely to do so! » the blonde put forward an argument.

There was a moment of silence.

«She has a point» Will eventually said.

«Alright, alright, I'll take him! » Taranee finally nodded «At any rate somebody has to do it. Furthermore, we get along well with Bubble, he's a wonderful little thing! »

«PORING! » Bubble yelled with glee and jumped on Taranee's hands – he was so excited about getting a new home!

The girl smiled and hugged the creature.

That time Mrs. Lin descended to the basement to find out how the things were going on. She was carrying a small oblong bottle with a wooden cork in her hand. «What's up, girls? » she asked optimistically while going down the stairs. «How's our little young man going? »

«It's fine, Mrs. Lin» Cornelia replied «Irma's parents have discovered Bubble so he she can't shelter him any longer, but he'll be staying at Taranee's for a while»

«That's good» the old lady nodded. «Nobody must see him so you're doing good that you pass him over to each other when problems turn up»

«Mrs. Lin, I have a question» Will said «Have you been to the Council of Kandrakar today? Have you already found out where the poring is from? »

«Oh, Will, I've been there » Mrs. Lin answered «But this matter is even more serious than we thought. The members of the Council and I spent a lot of time trying to indicate Bubble's homeland but without success so far. Even the Oracle doesn't know where the creature came from. It must be some kind of very remote other world with which neither Meridian nor Kandrakar have any links. »

«Is there really no other way to find it out? » Hay Lin asked sadly.

«No, dear, there is and we'll continue our efforts until we achieve the results» her grandmother said confidently «Now I need to take a specimen of Bubble's aura»

«Specimen of what? » the girls re-asked in surprise.

«You'll see» the old lady grinned and approached Taranee on whose lap was sitting Bubble. «Poring? » he looked at her inquiringly. Mrs. Lin stretched her arm and placed her open palm right above the poring's head. She started to mutter some weird words which sounded like a magic spell and as she was doing that, some kind of thick pale-pink (just a little darker than Bubble) cloud of mist started to appear gradually around Bubble. When Mrs. Lin finished her spell the cloud was thick enough and she simply collected some mist in her vial and corked it up. Then she snapped her fingers and the cloud disappeared.

«Wow! » the five guardians exclaimed, impressed.

«Wow, grandma! Will you teach me that trick? » Hay Lin was full of enthusiasm.

«You bet! » Yan Lin smiled «So I'll take this bottle to the Council tomorrow and we'll try to search for worlds where creatures with similar aura live. It is bound to help»

«But Mrs. Lin, tomorrow is Monday and we'll have to go to school» Taranee reminded «Where will Bubble stay while we have classes? It's not safe to leave him at home and I certainly can't take him to school! »

«Don't worry about it» the resourceful old lady said in response «I've already cared about this matter. Halinor agreed to babysit Bubble while you're at school – she has no grandchildren and the poring will be a good substitution»

«He surely will! » Irma grinned.

«Oh, I hope it won't take too long to indicate where Bubble came from» Taranee sighed. «So, little one, » she looked down at the poring sitting on her lap and smiled «You're going to move house again. You will have a new home, hope you'll like it! »

«Po-ring! » Bubble smiled in the most adorable way. He was definitely going to like this new adventure!

**Ah! A misfortune again! It seems that it's not that easy to live under one roof with the kawaii monster****) So, what happens next? Promise to update as soon as I get enough reviews, so please, don't be lazy to tell me what you think, I really need to know your opinion! Hope you liked it!**

**Hugs and kisses!**

**Chelsea Fleur Wellhord and my co-author Infanta**


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